Wireless Ranging Using Physical and Virtual Responders

ABSTRACT

An electronic device configures two or more virtual responders associated with different subsets of capabilities of a physical responder in the electronic device, where the physical responder comprises a radio-frequency (RF) transceiver and multiple antennas, and where a given virtual responder corresponds to the RF transceiver and a given antenna. Then, the electronic device performs, based at least in part on wirelessly communication with a second electronic device and using at least the virtual responders, measurements on wireless signals from the second electronic device to the electronic device, where the measurements correspond to a time of flight of the wireless signals. Next, the electronic device determines, based at least in part on the measurements, a range between the electronic device and the second electronic device, where the determination uses the measurements from different virtual responders to correct for an environmental condition and/or increase an accuracy of the determined range.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional applicationSer. No. 16/831,912, entitled “Wireless Ranging Using Physical andVirtual Responders,” by Ayman F. Naguib, et al., filed Mar. 27, 2020,and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/878,967,entitled “Wireless Ranging Using Physical and Virtual Responders,” byAyman F. Naguib, et al., filed Jul. 26, 2019, the contents of both ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD

The described embodiments relate, generally, to communication ofwireless signals by an electronic device, including techniques forestimating a range between electronic devices using physical and virtualresponders.

BACKGROUND

Many electronic devices communicate with each other using wirelesscommunication. For example, the communication between electronic devicesmay be based on a communication protocol that is compatible with anInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard, suchas an IEEE 802.11 standard (which is sometimes referred to as ‘Wi-Fi’),a cellular telephone communications standard, a Global PositioningSystem, etc.

In principle, wireless signals can be used to determine distance betweenelectronic devices. Notably, using the time of flight of electromagneticsignals and the speed of light, the range between electronic devices canbe determined. Because of the pervasiveness of wireless communication,this capability can enable a wide variety of applications.

However, in practice, it can be difficult to accurately estimate therange. For example, the accuracy of the determined range can be degradedby environmental effects, such as interference sources and/or multipathsignals. The resulting reduced accuracy of the estimated range is oftenan obstacle to the use of wireless ranging in many applications.

SUMMARY

An electronic device that determines a range is described. Thiselectronic device may include: a physical responder with aradio-frequency (RF) transceiver and multiple antennas; and anintegrated circuit (such as a processor). During operation of theelectronic device, the integrated circuit configures two or more virtualresponders associated with different subsets of capabilities of thephysical responder, where a given virtual responder corresponds to theRF transceiver and a given antenna in the multiple antennas. Then, basedat least in part on wirelessly communication with a second electronicdevice, at least the virtual responders perform measurements on wirelesssignals associated with the second electronic device and intended forthe electronic device (e.g., the wireless signals from the secondelectronic device to the electronic device, which may or may not beaddressed to the electronic device), where the measurements correspondto a time of flight of the wireless signals. Next, based at least inpart on the measurements, the integrated circuit determines the rangebetween the electronic device and the second electronic device, wherethe determination uses the measurements from different virtualresponders to correct for an environmental condition and/or increase anaccuracy of the determined range. In some implementations, anycombination of one or more physical responders and one or more virtual(or virtualized) responders can be used.

Moreover, when the determined range is within a threshold distance, theintegrated circuit may perform an action. For example, the integratedcircuit may: unlock the electronic device (or enable access to theelectronic device or a feature/function thereof), transition theelectronic device from a first power state to a second power state (suchas from a low power state to a higher power state), change a state ofthe electronic device (such as unlocking or opening a portal or doorthat is proximate or adjacent to the second electronic device) oridentify the second electronic device.

Note that at least the virtual responders may perform the measurementsat different spatial locations on the electronic device and/or atdifferent times at a same location on the electronic device (such asusing the same antenna in the multiple antennas). Thus, the measurementsmay use spatial and/or temporal diversity.

Furthermore, the measurements may also be performed by the physicalresponder.

Additionally, the electronic device may include at least a secondphysical responder with a second RF transceiver and multiple secondantennas, and the integrated circuit may configure two or more secondvirtual responders associated with different subsets of capabilities ofthe second physical responder. In these embodiments, the measurementsmay be performed by the physical responder, the second physicalresponder, the virtual responders and/or the second virtual responders.

In some embodiments, the integrated circuit dynamically configures thevirtual responders.

Note that the environmental condition may include interference and/or amultipath signal.

Moreover, the electronic device may include a vehicle, a door, acomputer, etc.

Furthermore, the wireless communication may include or may useultra-wideband (UWB). For example, the wireless communication may becompatible with an IEEE 802.15 standard.

Additionally, the second electronic device may be a cellular telephone(e.g., smartphone), a portable computing device, a wearable device, etc.

In some embodiments, the range is determined (or estimated) based atleast in part in a second time of flight of second wireless signalsassociated with the electronic device and intended for the secondelectronic device (e.g., the second wireless signals from the electronicdevice to the second electronic device).

Other embodiments provide the RF transceiver, the physical responderand/or the integrated circuit.

Other embodiments provide a computer-readable storage medium for usewith the electronic device. When program instructions stored in thecomputer-readable storage medium are executed by the electronic device,the program instructions may cause the electronic device to perform atleast some of the aforementioned operations of the electronic device.

Other embodiments provide a method for determining a range. The methodincludes at least some of the aforementioned operations performed by theelectronic device.

This Summary is provided for purposes of illustrating some exemplaryembodiments, so as to provide a basic understanding of some aspects ofthe subject matter described herein. Accordingly, it will be appreciatedthat the above-described features are only examples and should not beconstrued to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter describedherein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of thesubject matter described herein will become apparent from the followingDetailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The included drawings are for illustrative purposes and serve only toprovide examples of possible structures and arrangements for thedisclosed systems and techniques for intelligently and efficientlymanaging communication between multiple associated user devices. Thesedrawings in no way limit any changes in form and detail that may be madeto the embodiments by one skilled in the art without departing from thespirit and scope of the embodiments. The embodiments will be readilyunderstood by the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate likestructural elements.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an example of communicationbetween electronic devices.

FIGS. 1B and 1C are block diagrams illustrating example embodiments ofelectronic devices.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method for determininga range using an electronic device of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of communication amongcomponents in the electronic devices of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electronicdevice of FIG. 1A.

Note that like reference numerals refer to corresponding partsthroughout the drawings. Moreover, multiple instances of the same partare designated by a common prefix separated from an instance number by adash.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An electronic device that determines a range is described. Duringoperation, the electronic device configures two or more virtualresponders associated with different subsets of capabilities of aphysical responder in the electronic device, where the physicalresponder comprises an RF transceiver and multiple antennas, and where agiven virtual responder corresponds to the RF transceiver and a givenantenna in the multiple antennas. Then, the electronic device performs,based at least in part on wirelessly communication with a secondelectronic device and using at least the virtual responders,measurements on wireless signals from the second electronic device tothe electronic device, where the measurements correspond to a time offlight of the wireless signals. Next, the electronic device determines,based at least in part on the measurements, a range between theelectronic device and the second electronic device, where thedetermination uses the measurements from different virtual responders tocorrect for an environmental condition and/or increase an accuracy ofthe determined range.

By correcting for the environmental condition (such as interference or amultipath signal) and/or increasing the accuracy of the determinedrange, these measurement techniques may facilitate the use of wirelessranging and, thus, a variety of applications. Notably, when thedetermined range is within a threshold distance, the electronic devicemay perform an action. For example, the electronic device may: unlockthe electronic device (or enable access to the electronic device,function(s), feature(s), etc.), transition the electronic device from afirst power state to a second power state (such as from a low powerstate to a higher power state), or change a state of the electronicdevice (such as unlocking or opening a portal or door that is proximateor adjacent to the second electronic device). The action may be anyaction or actions implementable by the electronic device. Consequently,the measurement techniques may allow the electronic device to performaccurate range determination even in the presence of a dynamicallychanging environment and, thus, may facilitate more reliableapplications that use the determined range. These capabilities mayimprove the user experience and customer satisfaction.

In the discussion that follows, the electronic device may communicatethe wireless signals and may perform the measurements of the wirelesssignals in one or more bands of frequencies. For example, the wirelesssignals may have one or more carrier or fundamental frequencies between3.1-10.6 GHz. Notably, the wireless signals may be compatible include ormay use UWB or ‘pulse radio’, and/or may be compatible with an IEEE802.15 standard (such as IEEE 802.15.4). More generally, the wirelesssignals may have one or more carrier or fundamental frequencies between300 MHz and 100 GHz and a bandwidth of at least 500 MHz or 20% of thecarrier frequency. In some embodiments, the wireless signals includedpulses. By using pulses with wide bandwidths (such as greater than orequal to 500 MHz), the uncertainty of the pulse timing (Δt) may be smallenough to allow precise determination or estimate of range, such as arange resolution of less than a few centimeters (e.g., an accuracy onthe order of a millimeter). In some embodiments, the range resolutionmay be between 100 μm and 10 cm. In other embodiments, one or more otherfrequency ranges, bandwidths, protocols, and/or other wirelesscharacteristics may be implemented.

Note that the measurement techniques in the following discussion may beused in conjunction with one or more other wireless ranging or locationtechniques in accordance with a communication protocol, such as acommunication protocol that is compatible with an IEEE 802.11 standard(which is sometimes referred to as Wi-Fi). In some embodiments, themeasurement techniques are used with IEEE 802.11BA and/or IEEE 802.11ax.However, the measurement techniques may also be used with a wide varietyof other communication protocols, and in electronic devices (such asportable electronic devices or mobile devices) that can incorporatemultiple different radio access technologies (RATs) to provideconnections through different wireless networks that offer differentlocation-based services and/or capabilities.

Therefore, the electronic device can include hardware and software tosupport a wireless personal area network (WPAN) according to a WPANcommunication protocol, such as those standardized by the BluetoothSpecial Interest Group (in Kirkland, Wash.) or other companies.Moreover, the electronic device can communicate via: a wireless widearea network (WWAN), a wireless metro area network (WMAN), a WLAN,near-field communication (NFC), a cellular-telephone or data network(such as using a third generation (3G) communication protocol, a fourthgeneration (4G) communication protocol, e.g., Long Term Evolution orLTE, LTE Advanced (LTE-A), a fifth generation (5G) communicationprotocol, or other present or future developed advanced cellularcommunication protocol) and/or another communication protocol. In someembodiments, the communication protocol includes a peer-to-peercommunication technique.

The electronic device, in some embodiments, can also operate as part ofa wireless communication system, which can include a set of clientdevices, which can also be referred to as stations or client electronicdevices, interconnected to an access point, e.g., as part of a WLAN,and/or to each other, e.g., as part of a WPAN and/or an ‘ad hoc’wireless network, such as a Wi-Fi direct connection. In someembodiments, the client device can be any electronic device that iscapable of communicating via a WLAN technology, e.g., in accordance witha WLAN communication protocol. Furthermore, in some embodiments, theWLAN technology can include a Wi-Fi (or more generically a WLAN)wireless communication subsystem or radio, and the Wi-Fi radio canimplement an IEEE 802.11 technology, such as one or more of: IEEE802.11a; IEEE 802.11b; IEEE 802.11g; IEEE 802.11-2007; IEEE 802.11n;IEEE 802.11-2012; IEEE 802.11ac; IEEE 802.11ax, or other present orfuture developed IEEE 802.11 technologies.

In some embodiments, the electronic device can act as a communicationshub that provides access to a WLAN and/or to a WWAN and, thus, to a widevariety of services that can be supported by various applicationsexecuting on the electronic device. Thus, the electronic device mayinclude an ‘access point’ that communicates wirelessly with otherelectronic devices (such as using Wi-Fi), and that provides access toanother network (such as the Internet) via IEEE 802.3 (which issometimes referred to as ‘Ethernet’). However, in other embodiments theelectronic device may not be an access point.

Additionally, it should be understood that, in some embodiments, theelectronic devices described herein may be configured as multi-modewireless communication devices that are also capable of communicatingvia different 3G and/or second generation (2G) RATs. In these scenarios,a multi-mode electronic device or UE can be configured to preferattachment to LTE networks offering faster data rate throughput, ascompared to other 3G legacy networks offering lower data ratethroughputs. For example, in some implementations, a multi-modeelectronic device is configured to fall back to a 3G legacy network,e.g., an Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) network or a CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 Evolution-Data Only (EV-DO)network, when LTE and LTE-A networks are otherwise unavailable.

In accordance with various embodiments described herein, the terms‘wireless communication device,’ ‘electronic device,’ ‘mobile device,’‘mobile station,’ ‘wireless station,’ ‘wireless access point,’‘station,’ ‘access point’ and ‘user equipment’ (UE) may be used hereinto describe one or more consumer electronic devices that may be capableof performing procedures associated with various embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 1A presents a block diagram illustrating an example ofcommunication between electronic device 110-1 and electronic device 112(such as a smartphone or a wearable device, e.g., a smartwatch).Notably, electronic device 110-1 (such as vehicle, e.g., a car, a truck,an SUV, a motorcycle and, more generally, a vehicle that has wheels incontact with the ground; a computer, e.g., a laptop, a notebookcomputer, a tablet or another type of electronic device; a portal, e.g.,a door, a window, a gate, a trunk, etc.) may include one or moreinstances of a physical responder 114. A physical responder (such asphysical responder 114) may include an RF transceiver (such as RFtransceiver 116-1, which may include at least one transmitter and atleast one receiver, or a reconfigurable transmitter/receiver) and one ormore antennas (such as antennas 118). Moreover, electronic device 110-1may include an integrated circuit 120 (such as a processor or a controlcircuit) that is coupled to the one or more physical responders 114,e.g., by wired and/or wireless links or connections.

As described further below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, duringoperation integrated circuit 120 may configure two or more virtualresponders (which are sometimes referred to as ‘logical responders’)associated with different subsets of capabilities of the one or morephysical responders 114. Notably, a given virtual responder maycorresponds to an RF transceiver (such as RF transceiver 116-1) and agiven antenna in the multiple antennas 118. Note that the two or morevirtual responders may correspond to the same or different RFtransceivers. Therefore, there may be multiple virtual respondersconfigured for a given RF transceiver and/or for different RFtransceivers. Moreover, note that a given virtual responder may, atleast in part, spatially overlap one or more other virtual responders(e.g., two of the virtual responders may each include a common antennaat a location on electronic device 110-1).

For example, a first physical responder may include a first RFtransceiver and a first antenna, a second physical responder may includea second RF transceiver and a second antenna, and a virtual respondermay include either the first RF transceiver and the first antenna, andthe second RF transceiver and the second antenna. Alternatively, a firstphysical responder may include a first RF transceiver and a firstantenna and a second antenna. A first virtual responder may include thefirst RF transceiver and the first antenna, and a second virtualresponder may include the first RF transceiver and the second antenna.These implementations are illustrative and other implementations of avirtual responder may be create using different physical components.

Electronic device 110-1 may communicate using wireless communication(such as UWB) with electronic device 112 using one or more of physicalresponders 114 and/or one or more of the virtual responders. Notably,the one or more of physical responders 114 and/or the one or more of thevirtual responders may perform measurements on wireless signals 122associated with electronic device 112 and intended for electronic device110-1 (e.g., wireless signals 122, represented by a jagged line,transmitted by a radio 124 in electronic device 112 to electronic device110-1). These measurements may indicate, may correspond to, and/or mayspecify a time of flight of wireless signals 122 from electronic device112 to electronic device 110-1. Next, based at least in part on themeasurements, integrated circuit 120 may determine a range betweenelectronic devices 110-1 and 112, where the determination uses themeasurements from the one or more of physical responders 114 and/or theone or more of the virtual responders to correct for an environmentalcondition and/or increase an accuracy of the determined range.

For example, the environmental condition may include interference and/ora multipath signal. The measurements may estimate and/or correct for theenvironmental condition using physical responders and/or virtualresponders at or associated with different locations on electronicdevice 110-1, such as antennas at different locations on electronicdevice 110-1. Alternatively, the measurements may estimate and/orcorrect for the environmental condition using physical responders and/orvirtual responders at or associated with a same or common location onelectronic device 110-1, such as measurements performed with an antennaat different times (which, e.g., may be average or used to identify andexclude outlier measurements). Notably, in some embodiments, at least asubset of the virtual responders may perform measurements of wirelesssignals (which may include transmitting and receiving wireless signals)two or more times, and the multiple measurements from a given virtualresponder may be subsequently averaged. Thus, the measurement techniquesmay use spatial and/or temporal diversity. These capabilities may allowperformance to be verified, to improve accuracy of localization and/orto improve security or to detect attacks (such as man in the middle,spoofing, etc.).

When the determined range is within a threshold distance (such as whenelectronic device 112 is an arm's-length of or less than 1 m from a doorto a car), integrated circuit 120 may perform an action. For example,integrated circuit 120 may: unlock electronic device 110-1, transitionelectronic device 110-1 from a first power state to a second power state(such as from a low power state to a higher power state), change a stateof electronic device 110-1 (such as unlocking or opening a portal ordoor that is proximate or adjacent to electronic device 112) or identifyelectronic device 112.

In some embodiments, the measurements from the one or more of physicalresponders 114 and/or the one or more of the virtual responders may beused to estimate a direction or angle of approach of electronic device112 towards electronic device 110-1. Using this information, integratedcircuit 120 may identify an appropriate portal or door to open orunlock. For example, a user of electronic device 112 may approach a carthat has four doors (two driver's-side doors, two passenger doors) and atrunk. The car may include physical responders located on or proximateto each of the two driver's-side doors, the two passenger doors, thefront bumper, the rear bumper and/or inside of the car (to determinewhether electronic device 112, and thus the user, is inside or outsideof the car). Two or more of the virtual responders and/or the physicalresponders may provide multiple range measurements. Based at least inpart on the range measurements (e.g., proximity of electronic device112) and the angle of approach determined from the measurements,integrated circuit 120 may open the car trunk.

Because the environmental condition may change as a function of time, insome embodiments integrated circuit 120 may dynamically configure thevirtual responders. For example, integrated circuit 120 may dynamicallyconfigure the virtual responders based at least in part on one or morecommunication performance metrics associated with the wirelesscommunication.

In some embodiments, the range is determined by integrated circuit 120based at least in part in a second time of flight of second wirelesssignals associated with electronic device 110-1 and intended forelectronic device 112 (e.g., the second wireless signals transmitted byone or more of the RF transceivers in electronic device 110-1 toelectronic device 112). For example, radio 124 may measure the secondwireless signals, may determine the second time of flight, and maycommunicate this information to electronic device 110-1 in one or morepackets or frames. Thus, in some embodiments, the range is determinedbased on unilateral (or unidirectional) or bilateral (or bidirectional)communication between electronic devices 110-1 and 112.

In some embodiments, the one or more RF transceivers may have static ordynamic fields of view (such as an angular range that is greater than90° and less than 180°) and the fields of view of adjacent RFtransceivers may at least partially overlap. Thus, the given RFtransceiver may have a directional antenna pattern that is other than ordifferent from an omnidirectional antenna pattern. The one or more RFtransceivers may provide 360° coverage around electronic device 110-1 atleast in a horizontal plane.

Moreover, based at least in part on instructions or signals fromintegrated circuit 120, at least one of the one or more physicalresponders or the one or more virtual responders may transmit wirelesssignals 122. Thus, integrated circuit 120 may coordinate thetransmissions from the one or more physical responders or the one ormore virtual responders to void mutual interference.

While the preceding discussion illustrated the measurement techniquesusing pulses, in other embodiments (e.g., frequency-modulated)continuous-wave signals (such as chirp or pulse-compressed signals) maybe used, and the range may be determined from the amplitude modulation,frequency modulation and/or phase modulation of reflected signals.Moreover, operations in the measurement techniques (such as thefiltering) may be performed in the time and/or frequency domain, and maybe implemented using analog or digital techniques.

In some embodiments, electronic devices 110-1 and 112 may communicatewirelessly, e.g., in a WLAN using an IEEE 802.11 communication protocol.Thus, electronic devices 110-1 and 112 may be associated with eachother. For example, electronic devices 110-1 and 112 may wirelesslycommunicate while: detecting one another by scanning wireless channels,transmitting and receiving beacons or beacon frames on wirelesschannels, establishing connections (for example, by transmitting connectrequests), and/or transmitting and receiving packets or frames (whichmay include the request and/or additional information, such as data, aspayloads). In these embodiments, electronic device 110-1 may be or mayprovide the functions of an access point that facilitates access to anetwork, such as the Internet, via an Ethernet protocol, and may be aphysical access point or a virtual or ‘software’ access point that isimplemented on a computer or an electronic device. However, in someembodiments, electronic devices 110-1 and/or 112 may communicate with abase station in a cellular-telephone network, e.g., using acellular-telephone communication protocol.

As described further below with reference to FIG. 4, electronic device110-1 and/or electronic device 112 may include subsystems, such as anetworking subsystem, a memory subsystem, a processor subsystem, ameasurement subsystem and an analysis subsystem. In general, electronicdevice 110-1 may include any electronic device with a measurementsubsystem that enables electronic device 110-1 to perform measurements(such as wireless measurements), and an analysis subsystem thatdetermines the range. In addition, electronic device 110-1 and/orelectronic device 112 may include RF transceivers and/or radios in thenetworking subsystems. In some embodiments, electronic device 110-1 andelectronic device 112 can include (or can be included within) anyelectronic devices with networking subsystems that enable electronicdevice 110-1 and electronic device 112, respectively, to wirelesslycommunicate with another electronic device. This can includetransmitting pulses for use in the measurement techniques. Alternativelyor additionally, this can include transmitting beacons on wirelesschannels to enable the electronic devices to make initial contact withor to detect each other, followed by exchanging subsequentdata/management frames (such as connect requests) to establish aconnection, configure security options (e.g., IPSec), transmit andreceive packets or frames via the connection, etc.

Note that electronic device 110-1 and/or electronic device 112 may becompatible with an IEEE 802.11 standard that includes trigger-basedchannel access (such as IEEE 802.11ax). However, electronic device 110-1and/or electronic device 112 may also communicate with one or morelegacy electronic devices that are not compatible with the IEEE 802.11standard (i.e., that do not use multi-user trigger-based channelaccess). In some embodiments, electronic device 110-1 uses multi-usertransmission (such as orthogonal frequency division multiple access orOFDMA). For example, a radio in electronic device 110-1 (such as radio126) may provide a trigger frame for one or more electronic devices.Moreover, after radio 124 receives a trigger frame, radio 124 mayprovide a group acknowledgment to radio 126. For example, radio 124 mayprovide the acknowledgment during an assigned time slot and/or in anassigned channel in the group acknowledgment. However, in someembodiments the one or more electronic devices may individually provideacknowledgments to radio 126. Thus, after radio 124 receives the triggerframe, radios (such as radio 124) in the one or more electronic devices)may provide an acknowledgment to radio 126.

In the described embodiments, processing a packet or frame in electronicdevice 110-1 and electronic device 112 includes: receiving wirelesssignals encoding a packet or a frame; decoding/extracting the packet orframe from received wireless signals to acquire the packet or frame; andprocessing the packet or frame to determine information contained in thepacket or frame (such as data in the payload).

In general, the communication via pulses, a WLAN and/or acellular-telephone network in the measurement techniques may becharacterized by a variety of communication-performance metrics. Forexample, the communication-performance metric may include any/all of: anRSSI, a data rate, a data rate for successful communication (which issometimes referred to as a ‘throughput’), a latency, an error rate (suchas a retry or resend rate), a mean-square error of equalized signalsrelative to an equalization target, inter-symbol interference, multipathinterference, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), a width of an eye pattern,a ratio of a number of bytes successfully communicated during a timeinterval (such as a time interval between, e.g., 1 and 10 s) to anestimated maximum number of bytes that can be communicated in the timeinterval (the latter of which is sometimes referred to as the ‘capacity’of a communication channel or link), and/or a ratio of an actual datarate to an estimated data rate (which is sometimes referred to as‘utilization’).

Although we describe the network environment shown in FIG. 1A as anexample, in alternative embodiments, different numbers and/or types ofelectronic devices may be present. For example, some embodiments mayinclude more or fewer electronic devices. As another example, in otherembodiments, different electronic devices can be transmitting and/orreceiving packets or frames. In some embodiments, different electronicdevices may be transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals.

FIG. 1B illustrates multiple examples of the electronic devices 110. Afirst example of the electronic device 110-1 includes a virtualresponder 128-1. A second example of the electronic device 110-2includes a virtual responder 128-2. As illustrated, the virtualresponder 128-1 and the virtual responder 128-2 correspond to the samehardware.

FIG. 1C illustrates additional examples of the electronic devices 110. Afirst example of the electronic device 110-1 includes a virtualresponder 130-1, which includes the RF transceiver 116-1 and a firstantenna 118-1, but excludes a second antenna 118-2 (as indicated by thedashed line in electronic device 110-1 in FIG. 1C). A second example ofthe electronic device 110-2 includes a virtual responder 130-2, whichincludes the RF transceiver 116-2 and the second antenna 118-2, butexcludes the first antenna 118-1 (as indicated by the dashed line inelectronic device 110-2 in FIG. 1C). For example, an RF transceiver in agiven electronic device may be selectively attached or coupled to agiven antenna having a given polarization, and a virtual responder mayinclude or select a particular antenna having a particular polarization(such as one of two antennas 118 having different polarizations).Alternatively, an RF transceiver in a given electronic device may beselectively attached or coupled to a given antenna in two or moreantennas, and the antennas (such as antennas 118) may have the samepolarization.

Although these examples are illustrated, other examples and arrangementsare also envisioned, encompassing the full scope of variation discussedherein.

FIG. 2 presents a flow diagram illustrating an example method 200 fordetermining a range. This method may be performed by an electronicdevice, such as electronic device 110-1 in FIG. 1A. During operation,the electronic device may configure two or more virtual responders(operation 210) associated with different subsets of capabilities of aphysical responder in the electronic device, where the physicalresponder comprises an RF transceiver and multiple antennas, and where agiven virtual responder corresponds to the RF transceiver and a givenantenna in the multiple antennas. Then, the electronic device mayperform, based at least in part on wireless communication with a secondelectronic device and using at least the virtual responders,measurements on wireless signals (operation 212) associated with thesecond electronic device and intended for the electronic device, wherethe measurements correspond to a time of flight of the wireless signals.Next, the electronic device may determine, based at least in part on themeasurements, the range (operation 214) between the electronic deviceand the second electronic device. Further, the determination can use themeasurements from different virtual responders to correct for anenvironmental condition (such as interference from an interferencesource, a reflection, transient variation in the received signalstrength and/or a multipath signal) and/or increase an accuracy of thedetermined range.

In some embodiments, the electronic device performs one or more optionaladditional operations (operation 216). For example, when the determinedrange is within a threshold distance, the electronic device may performan action. Notably, the electronic device may: unlock the electronicdevice, enable a function, feature, or application of the electronicdevice, transition the electronic device from a first power state to asecond power state (such as from a low power state to a higher powerstate), change a state of the electronic device (such as unlocking oropening a portal or door that is proximate or adjacent to the secondelectronic device) or identify the second electronic device.

Note that at least the virtual responders may perform the measurementsat different spatial locations on the electronic device and/or atdifferent times at a same location on the electronic device (such asusing the same antenna in the multiple antennas). Furthermore, at leastsome of the measurements may also be performed by the physicalresponder. Thus, the measurements may use spatial and/or temporaldiversity.

Additionally, the electronic device may include at least a secondphysical responder with a second RF transceiver and multiple secondantennas, and the electronic device may configure two or more secondvirtual responders associated with different subsets of capabilities ofthe second physical responder. In these embodiments, the measurementsmay be performed by the physical responder, the second physicalresponder, the virtual responders and/or the second virtual responders.

In some embodiments, the electronic device dynamically configures thevirtual responders. For example, the virtual responders may bedynamically configured based at least in part on one or more of: achanging environmental condition, a change in the location of theelectronic device, a time of day, etc.

Note that the environmental condition may include interference from aninterference source, a reflection, and/or a multipath signal.

Moreover, the range may be determined based at least in part in a secondtime of flight of second wireless signals associated with the electronicdevice and intended for the second electronic device (e.g., the secondwireless signals from the electronic device to the second electronicdevice).

In some embodiments of method 200 (FIG. 2), there may be additional orfewer operations. Further, one or more different operations may beincluded. Moreover, the order of the operations may be changed, and/ortwo or more operations may be combined into a single operation orperformed at least partially in parallel.

The measurements techniques are further illustrated in FIG. 3, whichpresents a flow diagram illustrating an example of communication amongcomponents in electronic devices 110-1 and 112. During operation,integrated circuit 120 in electronic device 110-1 may configure two ormore virtual responders associated with different subsets ofcapabilities of a physical responder 114 in electronic device 110-1,where physical responder 114 includes RF transceiver 116-1 and multipleantennas 118, and where a given virtual responder corresponds to RFtransceiver 116-1 and a given antenna in the multiple antennas. Notably,integrated circuit 120 may provide instructions 310 or signals tophysical responder 114 (such as to RF transceiver 116-1) to configurethe two or more virtual responders.

Then, physical responder 114 and/or the two or more virtual respondersmay wirelessly communicate pulses 312 with radio 124 in electronicdevice 112. For example, radio 124 may transmit pulses 312-1 toelectronic device 110, which are measured 314 by physical responder 114and/or the two or more virtual responders. These measurements maycorrespond to a time of flight of pulses 312-1. For example, pulses312-1 may be time stamped with a transmit time when transmitted by radio124, and may be time stamped with a receive time when received byphysical responder 114 and/or the two or more virtual responders. Next,physical responder 114 may provide the measurements 314 to integratedcircuit 120.

In some embodiments, physical responder 114 and/or the two or morevirtual responders may transmit pulses 312-2 to electronic device 110,which are measured 316 by radio 124. These measurements may correspondto or otherwise indicate a time of flight of pulses 312-2. For example,pulses 312-2 may be time stamped with a transmit time(s) whentransmitted by physical responder 114 and/or the two or more virtualresponders, and may be time stamped with a receive time when received byradio 124. Then, radio 124 may transmit one or more packets 318 orframes with information 320 that specifies the time of flight of pulses312-2 to electronic device 110. After receiving the one or more packets318 or frames, physical responder 114 and/or radio 126 may provide theinformation 320 to integrated circuit 120.

Next, integrated circuit 120 may determine, based at least in part onthe measurements 314 and/or the information 320, range 322 betweenelectronic devices 110-1 and 112, where the determination uses themeasurements from different virtual responders to correct for anenvironmental condition (such as interference, a reflection and/or amultipath signal) and/or increase an accuracy of the determined range322.

In some embodiments, integrated circuit 120 performs an optional action324. For example, when the determined range 322 is within a thresholddistance, integrated circuit 120 may perform action 324.

While communication between the components in FIG. 3 is illustrated withunilateral or bilateral communication (e.g., lines having a single arrowor dual arrows), in general a given communication operation may beunilateral or bilateral.

In summary, the measurement techniques may allow dynamic, reliable andaccurate determination of the range between the electronic device andthe second electronic device. Moreover, this capability may enable awide variety of location or proximity-based applications. Consequently,the measurement techniques may improve the user experience when usingthe electronic device.

As described herein, aspects of the present technology may include thegathering and use of data available from various sources, e.g., toimprove or enhance functionality. The present disclosure contemplatesthat in some instances, this gathered data may include personalinformation data that uniquely identifies or can be used to contact orlocate a specific person. Such personal information data can includedemographic data, location-based data, telephone numbers, emailaddresses, Twitter ID's, home addresses, data or records relating to auser's health or level of fitness (e.g., vital signs measurements,medication information, exercise information), date of birth, or anyother identifying or personal information. The present disclosurerecognizes that the use of such personal information data, in thepresent technology, may be used to the benefit of users.

The present disclosure contemplates that the entities responsible forthe collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage, or other use ofsuch personal information data will comply with well-established privacypolicies and/or privacy practices. In particular, such entities shouldimplement and consistently use privacy policies and practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining personal information data private andsecure. Such policies should be easily accessible by users, and shouldbe updated as the collection and/or use of data changes. Personalinformation from users should be collected for legitimate and reasonableuses of the entity and not shared or sold outside of those legitimateuses. Further, such collection/sharing should only occur after receivingthe informed consent of the users. Additionally, such entities shouldconsider taking any needed steps for safeguarding and securing access tosuch personal information data and ensuring that others with access tothe personal information data adhere to their privacy policies andprocedures. Further, such entities can subject themselves to evaluationby third parties to certify their adherence to widely accepted privacypolicies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should beadapted for the particular types of personal information data beingcollected and/or accessed and adapted to applicable laws and standards,including jurisdiction-specific considerations. For instance, in the US,collection of, or access to, certain health data may be governed byfederal and/or state laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability andAccountability Act (HIPAA); whereas health data in other countries maybe subject to other regulations and policies and should be handledaccordingly. Hence different privacy practices should be maintained fordifferent personal data types in each country.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplatesembodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to,personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplatesthat hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent orblock access to such personal information data. For example, the presenttechnology may be configurable to allow users to selectively “opt in” or“opt out” of participation in the collection of personal informationdata, e.g., during registration for services or anytime thereafter. Inaddition to providing “opt in” and “opt out” options, the presentdisclosure contemplates providing notifications relating to the accessor use of personal information. For instance, a user may be notifiedupon downloading an app that their personal information data will beaccessed and then reminded again just before personal information datais accessed by the app.

Moreover, it is the intent of the present disclosure that personalinformation data should be managed and handled in a way to minimizerisks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Risk can beminimized by limiting the collection of data and deleting data once itis no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including incertain health related applications, data de-identification can be usedto protect a user's privacy. De-identification may be facilitated, whenappropriate, by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth,etc.), controlling the amount or specificity of data stored (e.g.,collecting location data a city level rather than at an address level),controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data across users),and/or other methods.

Therefore, although the present disclosure may broadly cover use ofpersonal information data to implement one or more various disclosedembodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the variousembodiments can also be implemented without the need for accessing suchpersonal information data. That is, the various embodiments of thepresent technology are not rendered inoperable due to the lack of all ora portion of such personal information data.

We now describe embodiments of an electronic device. FIG. 4 presents ablock diagram of an electronic device 400 (which may be a cellulartelephone, a smartwatch, an access point, a wireless speaker, an IoTdevice, another electronic device, etc.) in accordance with someembodiments. This electronic device includes processing subsystem 410,memory subsystem 412, networking subsystem 414 and measurement subsystem432. Processing subsystem 410 includes one or more devices configured toperform computational operations. For example, processing subsystem 410can include one or more microprocessors, application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs),programmable-logic devices, and/or one or more digital signal processors(DSPs).

Memory subsystem 412 includes one or more devices for storing dataand/or instructions for processing subsystem 410, networking subsystem414 and/or measurement subsystem 432. For example, memory subsystem 412can include dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random accessmemory (SRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, and/or othertypes of memory. In some embodiments, instructions for processingsubsystem 410 in memory subsystem 412 include: program instructions orsets of instructions (such as program instructions 422 or operatingsystem 424), which may be executed by processing subsystem 410. Forexample, a ROM can store programs, utilities or processes to be executedin a non-volatile manner, and DRAM can provide volatile data storage,and may store instructions related to the operation of electronic device400. Note that the one or more computer programs may constitute acomputer-program mechanism, a computer-readable storage medium orsoftware. Moreover, instructions in the various modules in memorysubsystem 412 may be implemented in: a high-level procedural language,an object-oriented programming language, and/or in an assembly ormachine language. Furthermore, the programming language may be compiledor interpreted, e.g., configurable or configured (which may be usedinterchangeably in this discussion), to be executed by processingsubsystem 410. In some embodiments, the one or more computer programsare distributed over a network-coupled computer system so that the oneor more computer programs are stored and executed in a distributedmanner.

In addition, memory subsystem 412 can include mechanisms for controllingaccess to the memory. In some embodiments, memory subsystem 412 includesa memory hierarchy that comprises one or more caches coupled to a memoryin electronic device 400. In some of these embodiments, one or more ofthe caches is located in processing subsystem 410.

In some embodiments, memory subsystem 412 is coupled to one or morehigh-capacity mass-storage devices (not shown). For example, memorysubsystem 412 can be coupled to a magnetic or optical drive, asolid-state drive, or another type of mass-storage device. In theseembodiments, memory subsystem 412 can be used by electronic device 400as fast-access storage for often-used data, while the mass-storagedevice is used to store less frequently used data.

Networking subsystem 414 includes one or more devices configured tocouple to and communicate on a wired and/or wireless network (i.e., toperform network operations), such as: control logic, an interfacecircuit and a set of antennas (or antenna elements) in an adaptive arraythat can be selectively turned on and/or off by control logic to createa variety of optional antenna patterns or ‘beam patterns.’Alternatively, instead of the set of antennas, in some embodimentselectronic device 400 includes one or more nodes, e.g., a pad, which canbe coupled to the set of antennas. Thus, electronic device 400 may ormay not include the set of antennas. For example, networking subsystem414 can include a Bluetooth networking system, a cellular networkingsystem (e.g., a 3G/4G/5G network such as UMTS, LTE, etc.), a universalserial bus (USB) networking system, a networking system based on thestandards described in IEEE 802.12 (e.g., a WiFi® networking system), anEthernet networking system, and/or another networking system.

Networking subsystem 414 includes processors, controllers,radios/antennas, sockets/plugs, and/or other devices used for couplingto, communicating on, and handling data and events for each supportednetworking system. Note that mechanisms used for coupling to,communicating on, and handling data and events on the network for eachnetwork system are sometimes collectively referred to as a ‘networkinterface’ for the network system. Moreover, in some embodiments a‘network’ or a ‘connection’ between the electronic devices does not yetexist. Therefore, electronic device 400 may use the mechanisms innetworking subsystem 414 for performing simple wireless communicationbetween the electronic devices, e.g., transmitting advertising or frameframes and/or scanning for advertising frames transmitted by otherelectronic devices.

Measurement subsystem 432 includes one or more devices configured totransmit wireless (e.g., radar) signals and to perform wirelessmeasurements, such as: control logic 416, multiple independent RFtransceivers 418 that are collocated in electronic device 400, and a setof one or more antennas 420 (or antenna elements) that are electricallycoupled to RF transceivers 418 at nodes 408 (such as, e.g., one or morepads). These independent RF transceivers may not be synchronized witheach other. In some embodiments, set of antennas 420 have a directionalantenna pattern that is other than or different from an omnidirectionalantenna pattern.

Within electronic device 400, processing subsystem 410, memory subsystem412, networking subsystem 414 and measurement subsystem 432 are coupledtogether using bus 428 that facilitates data transfer between thesecomponents. Bus 428 may include an electrical, optical, and/orelectro-optical connection that the subsystems can use to communicatecommands and data among one another. Although only one bus 428 is shownfor clarity, different embodiments can include a different number orconfiguration of electrical, optical, and/or electro-optical connectionsamong the subsystems.

In some embodiments, electronic device 400 includes a display subsystem426 for displaying information on a display, which may include a displaydriver and the display, such as a liquid-crystal display, a multi-touchtouchscreen, etc. Display subsystem 426 may be controlled by processingsubsystem 410 to display information to a user (e.g., informationrelating to incoming, outgoing, or an active communication session).

Electronic device 400 can also include a user-input subsystem 430 thatallows a user of the electronic device 400 to interact with electronicdevice 400. For example, user-input subsystem 430 can take a variety offorms, such as: a button, keypad, dial, touch screen, audio inputinterface, visual/image capture input interface, input in the form ofsensor data, etc.

Electronic device 400 can be (or can be included in) any electronicdevice with at least one network interface or a measurement subsystem.For example, electronic device 400 may include: a cellular telephone ora smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer,a personal or desktop computer, a netbook computer, a media playerdevice, a wireless speaker, an IoT device, an electronic book device, aMiFi® device, a smartwatch, a wearable computing device, a portablecomputing device, a consumer-electronic device, a vehicle, a door, awindow, a portal, an access point, a router, a switch, communicationequipment, test equipment, as well as any other type of electroniccomputing device having wireless communication capability that caninclude communication via one or more wireless communication protocols.

Although specific components are used to describe electronic device 400,in alternative embodiments, different components and/or subsystems maybe present in electronic device 400. For example, electronic device 400may include one or more additional processing subsystems, memorysubsystems, networking subsystems, and/or display subsystems.Additionally, one or more of the subsystems may not be present inelectronic device 400. Moreover, in some embodiments, electronic device400 may include one or more additional subsystems that are not shown inFIG. 4. In some embodiments, electronic device may include an analysissubsystem that performs at least some of the operations in themeasurement techniques. Also, although separate subsystems are shown inFIG. 4, in some embodiments some or all of a given subsystem orcomponent can be integrated into one or more of the other subsystems orcomponent(s) in electronic device 400. For example, in some embodimentsprogram instructions 422 are included in operating system 424 and/orcontrol logic 416 is included in RF transceivers 418.

Moreover, the circuits and components in electronic device 400 may beimplemented using any combination of analog and/or digital circuitry,including: bipolar, PMOS and/or NMOS gates or transistors. Furthermore,signals in these embodiments may include digital signals that haveapproximately discrete values and/or analog signals that have continuousvalues. Additionally, components and circuits may be single-ended ordifferential, and power supplies may be unipolar or bipolar.

An integrated circuit (which is sometimes referred to as a‘communication circuit’) may implement some or all of the functionalityof networking subsystem 414. This integrated circuit may includehardware and/or software mechanisms that are used for transmittingwireless signals from electronic device 400 and receiving signals atelectronic device 400 from other electronic devices. Aside from themechanisms herein described, radios are generally known in the art andhence are not described in detail. In general, networking subsystem 414and/or the integrated circuit can include any number of radios. Notethat the radios in multiple-radio embodiments function in a similar wayto the described single-radio embodiments.

In some embodiments, networking subsystem 414 and/or the integratedcircuit include a configuration mechanism (such as one or more hardwareand/or software mechanisms) that configures the radio(s) to transmitand/or receive on a given communication channel (e.g., a given carrierfrequency). For example, in some embodiments, the configurationmechanism can be used to switch the radio from monitoring and/ortransmitting on a given communication channel to monitoring and/ortransmitting on a different communication channel. (Note that‘monitoring’ as used herein comprises receiving signals from otherelectronic devices and possibly performing one or more processingoperations on the received signals)

Alternatively or additionally, an integrated circuit (which is sometimesreferred to as a ‘measurement circuit’) may implement some or all of thefunctionality of measurement subsystem 432. This integrated circuit mayinclude hardware and/or software mechanisms that are used fortransmitting wireless signals from electronic device 400 and receivingwireless signals at electronic device 400.

In some embodiments, an output of a process for designing the integratedcircuit, or a portion of the integrated circuit, which includes one ormore of the circuits described herein may be a computer-readable mediumsuch as, for example, a magnetic tape or an optical or magnetic disk.The computer-readable medium may be encoded with data structures orother information describing circuitry that may be physicallyinstantiated as the integrated circuit or the portion of the integratedcircuit. Although various formats may be used for such encoding, thesedata structures are commonly written in: Caltech Intermediate Format(CIF), Calma GDS II Stream Format (GDSII) or Electronic DesignInterchange Format (EDIF). Those of skill in the art of integratedcircuit design can develop such data structures from schematic diagramsof the type detailed above and the corresponding descriptions and encodethe data structures on the computer-readable medium. Those of skill inthe art of integrated circuit fabrication can use such encoded data tofabricate integrated circuits that include one or more of the circuitsdescribed herein.

While the preceding discussion used a UWB communication protocol as anillustrative example, in other embodiments a wide variety ofcommunication protocols and, more generally, wireless communicationtechniques may be used. Thus, the measurement techniques may be used ina variety of network interfaces. Furthermore, while some of theoperations in the preceding embodiments were implemented in hardware orsoftware, in general the operations in the preceding embodiments can beimplemented in a wide variety of configurations and architectures.Therefore, some or all of the operations in the preceding embodimentsmay be performed in hardware, in software or both. For example, at leastsome of the operations in the measurement techniques may be implementedusing program instructions 422, operating system 424 (such as a driverfor an interface circuit in networking subsystem 414 or RF transceivers418 in measurement subsystem 432) or in firmware in an interface circuitnetworking subsystem 414 or in measurement subsystem 432. Alternativelyor additionally, at least some of the operations in the measurementtechniques may be implemented in a physical layer, such as hardware inan interface circuit in networking subsystem 414 or in measurementsubsystem 432. In some embodiments, the measurement techniques areimplemented, at least in part, in a MAC layer and/or in a physical layerin an interface circuit in networking subsystem 414.

While examples of numerical values are provided in the precedingdiscussion, in other embodiments different numerical values are used.Consequently, the numerical values provided are not intended to belimiting.

Moreover, while the preceding embodiments illustrated the use ofwireless signals in one or more bands of frequencies, in otherembodiments of the measurement techniques electromagnetic signals in oneor more different frequency bands are used to determine the range. Forexample, these signals may be communicated in one or more bands offrequencies, including: a microwave frequency band, a radar frequencyband, 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 60 GHz, and/or a band of frequencies usedby a Citizens Broadband Radio Service or by LTE.

In the preceding description, we refer to ‘some embodiments.’ Note that‘some embodiments’ describes a subset of all of the possibleembodiments, but does not always specify the same subset of embodiments.

The foregoing description is intended to enable any person skilled inthe art to make and use the disclosure, and is provided in the contextof a particular application and its requirements. Moreover, theforegoing descriptions of embodiments of the present disclosure havebeen presented for purposes of illustration and description only. Theyare not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure tothe forms disclosed. Accordingly, many modifications and variations willbe apparent to practitioners skilled in the art, and the generalprinciples defined herein may be applied to other embodiments andapplications without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure. Additionally, the discussion of the preceding embodiments isnot intended to limit the present disclosure. Thus, the presentdisclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, butis to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles andfeatures disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An integrated circuit, comprising: control logicconfigured to: provide instructions or electrical signals to a physicalresponder to configure two or more virtual responders with differentsubsets of capabilities of the physical responder, wherein the physicalresponder comprises: a radio-frequency (RF) transceiver configured toreceive wireless signals; and multiple antennas; and wherein a givenvirtual responder corresponds to the RF transceiver and a given antennain the multiple antennas.
 2. The integrated circuit of claim 1, whereinthe control logic is configured to: perform, based at least in part onwireless communication with a second electronic device and using atleast the virtual responders, measurements on the wireless signalsassociated with the second electronic device and intended for theelectronic device, wherein the measurements correspond to a time offlight of the wireless signals; and determine, based at least in part onthe measurements, a range between the electronic device and the secondelectronic device, wherein the determination uses the measurements fromdifferent virtual responders.
 3. The integrated circuit of claim 1,wherein a field of view of the given virtual responder, at least inpart, spatially overlaps a second field of view of another of the two ormore virtual responders.
 4. An electronic device, comprising: a physicalresponder, comprising: a radio-frequency (RF) transceiver configured toreceive wireless signals; and multiple antennas; and an integratedcircuit coupled to the physical responder, wherein the electronic deviceis configured to: configure two or more virtual responders associatedwith different subsets of capabilities of the physical responder,wherein a given virtual responder corresponds to the RF transceiver anda given antenna in the multiple antennas.
 5. The electronic device ofclaim 4, wherein the electronic device is configured to: perform, basedat least in part on wireless communication with a second electronicdevice and using at least the virtual responders, measurements on thewireless signals associated with the second electronic device andintended for the electronic device, wherein the measurements correspondto a time of flight of the wireless signals; and determine, based atleast in part on the measurements, a range between the electronic deviceand the second electronic device, wherein the determination uses themeasurements from different virtual responders.
 6. The electronic deviceof claim 5, wherein, when the determined range is within a thresholddistance, the integrated circuit performs an action.
 7. The electronicdevice of claim 6, wherein the action comprises: unlocking theelectronic device, transitioning the electronic device from a firstpower state to a second power state, or changing a state of theelectronic device.
 8. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein at leastthe virtual responders perform the measurements at different spatiallocations on the electronic device, at different times at a samelocation on the electronic device, or both.
 9. The electronic device ofclaim 5, wherein the measurements are also performed by the physicalresponder.
 10. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein thedetermination corrects for an environmental condition, increases anaccuracy of the determined range or both.
 11. The electronic device ofclaim 10, wherein the environmental condition comprises interference ora multipath signal.
 12. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein thesecond electronic device comprises a cellular telephone.
 13. Theelectronic device of claim 5, wherein the RF transceiver is configuredto transmit second wireless signals; and wherein the range is determinedbased at least in part in a second time of flight of the second wirelesssignals associated with the electronic device and intended for thesecond electronic device.
 14. The electronic device of claim 4, whereinthe electronic device comprises: a second physical responder,comprising: a second RF transceiver; and multiple second antennas; andwherein the integrated circuit is configured to configure two or moresecond virtual responders associated with different subsets ofcapabilities of the second physical responder.
 15. The electronic deviceof claim 14, wherein the electronic device is configured to: perform,based at least in part on wireless communication with a secondelectronic device and using at least the virtual responders,measurements on the wireless signals associated with the secondelectronic device and intended for the electronic device, wherein themeasurements correspond to a time of flight of the wireless signals; anddetermine, based at least in part on the measurements, a range betweenthe electronic device and the second electronic device, wherein thedetermination uses the measurements from different virtual responders;and wherein the measurements are performed by two or more of: thephysical responder, the second physical responder, the virtualresponders, or the second virtual responders.
 16. The electronic deviceof claim 4, wherein the integrated circuit dynamically configures thevirtual responders.
 17. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein thewireless communication uses ultra-wideband (UWB).
 18. The electronicdevice of claim 4, wherein the two or more virtual responders comprise afirst virtual responding and a second virtual responder; and wherein thefirst virtual responder comprises a first antenna in the multipleantennas having a polarization and the second virtual respondercomprises a second antenna in the multiple antennas having thepolarization.
 19. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein a field ofview of the given virtual responder, at least in part, spatiallyoverlaps a second field of view of another of the two or more virtualresponders.
 20. A method for determining a range, comprising: by anelectronic device: configuring two or more virtual responders associatedwith different subsets of capabilities of a physical responder in theelectronic device, wherein the physical responder comprises aradio-frequency (RF) transceiver that receives wireless signals andmultiple antennas, wherein a given virtual responder corresponds to theRF transceiver and a given antenna in the multiple antennas; performing,based at least in part on wireless communication with a secondelectronic device and using at least the virtual responders,measurements on the wireless signals associated with the secondelectronic device and intended for the electronic device, wherein themeasurements correspond to a time of flight of the wireless signals; anddetermining, based at least in part on the measurements, the rangebetween the electronic device and the second electronic device, whereinthe determination uses the measurements from different virtualresponders.